NASCAR Sprint Cup: Bank Of America 500 Schedule And Notebook

It's time for another round of the 2015 Chase for the Sprint Cup. 

This time around, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series will take to Charlotte Motor Speedway, with 12 drivers still in the running for the Cup, for the Bank of America 500.

Weekend Schedule - (all times Eastern)

Thursday, October 8:

- Practice: 1:30 - 2:55 pm

- Qualifying: 7:20 pm

Friday, October 9:

- Practice: 3:30 - 4:25 pm

- Final practice: 6:30 - 7:20 pm

Saturday, October 10:

- Race: 7:00 pm (334 laps / 501 miles)

Notebook

- The Chase heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway for the Bank of America 500 with just 12 drivers remaining in the running to win it all.

- Clint Bowyer, Paul Menard, Jimmie Johnson, and Jamie McMurray were the four drivers who were eliminated after last weekend's AAA 400 at Dover.

- Charlotte Motor Speedway is a 1.5-mile oval with 24 degrees of banking in the turns and just five degrees of banking on the straightaways. It is also considered the home track for NASCAR because the majority of the teams are headquartered in Charlotte.

- Kevin Harvick was able to sneak into the second round with a win at Dover in what was a must win race for him. He had crashed out early at Chicagoland then was on his way to winning at New Hampshire before running dry just laps from the checkers. Harvick was in a similar position last season when he needed a win at Phoenix to advance to the championship round of the Chase. He was able to win, and went on to win the series championship.

- Dale Earnhardt Jr. narrowly made it into the second round thanks to a key pass of Jamie McMurray in the closing laps at Dover. When the race ended, Earnhardt Jr. and McMurray were tied in points for the final spot, but Earnhardt Jr. got the position because as finished higher in the race.

- Matt Kenseth sits at the top of the standings with five wins so far this season on top of 12 top-five finishes and 19 top-10 results. At Charlotte, Kenseth has two wins, 10 top-fives, and 17 top-10s.

- Joey Logano sits in second position on the Chase grid. Logano has never won at Charlotte, although he does have four top-fives and seven top-10s at the track. He has the best average finish at Charlotte in the series (10.231), and has spent 2,884 laps running in the top-15 at the 1.5-mile oval in North Carolina.

- Jeff Gordon has an opportunity to further bolster his already impressive resume this weekend, as he is just 128 laps led away from becoming the sixth driver in Sprint Cup history to lead 25,000 laps, joining Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt Sr., Cale Yarborough, David Pearson, and Bobby Allison.

- Gordon, though, isn’t the only driver who can reach a milestone this weekend; Tony Stewart needs just one top-10 finish for his 300th career top-10 result. He is currently 17th on the all-time Sprint Cup Series top-10 finishes list, two away from tying James Hylton for 16th.

For coverage throughout the Bank of America 500 weekend at Charlotte, follow @NASCARonVAVEL on Twitter.